I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Zeb this is how it goes:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.4.
Tag 7 people and link to them.
5.Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Here are my 7 random facts about me:

1. I was a smoker until 8 years ago I gave up overnight.
2. When I was 16 , my then boyfriend and I decided to elope to Gretna Green , but we only got as far as Manchester before we ran out of money!
3. After having my hair short from the age of 11 I am now growing it.
4. When I don't have to go out I love slobbing around in old pj bottoms and tshirts.
5. I love all word games and am competitive when I play.
6. I love not having to rush around in the mornings.
7.I love the seaside in winter.

Now, to tag 7 other bloggers:1.Adrienne 2. Rosie 3. Fiona 4. Carol S 5. Carol C 6. Sweetpea
7. Angela

Swirls and Flourishes ATC's

Swirls and Flourishes is the theme for Fiona's ATC swap this month.

Here is what I came up with.

Background for the green one was sticky finger sprays , which I got BOG off at Ally Pally. The swirls were stamped using Pine Needle distress ink and then the whole lot was sprayed using Moon Shadow spray. I coloured the image slightly green on the computer and edged with the same distress ink. Added the metal swirl and the jewel to finish it off.

The background on the red one was done using distress inks, Frayed Burlap and Fired Brick with a brayer. Taking the ink mostly off the brayer onto a non stick mat , lightly brayering, and picking up the ink until you get the effect you want. I stamped the swirls with Fired Brick and added a few gold dots. The image was slightly tinted pink and edged with the Fired Brick. Again added a metal swirl and a jewel.

Deco Books

I've done another couple of pages for the ongoing NGS round robin deco book. I love doing these, almost like instant art, as they are usually quite small so can be fitted in easily.

Tall and Skinny Pages

Tall and skinny pages? Well 3 inches wide by 7 inches tall, not to big you might think. Well I struggled a bit with the theme, people sitting on animals, flying on birds or swimming on fish lol, but I finally got my act together and came up with this.

Backgrounds are again scrapped acrylics. I just love creating these, messy and quick. I stamped on the backgrounds randomly with Versamagic chalk ink. I also edged with this.

Cutting out the images, 52 animals shorn before breakfast one day lol, was quite hard on the hands , and then I had to start on the kidlets!

Well that was the easiest part done. Had to find some relevant words to finish off, so hope they actually are relevant!

This was fun once I got over the initial 'oh my god, WHY do I do this to myself!

ATC Swap

I was the hostess for our Monthly ATC swap and the theme this month was Flight. Here is what I did.

The background was made on matte photo paper, using dye inks and a brayer. Once the ink was on the paper I sprayed with water and then dabbed it with kitchen towel to give the pattern.

The image is one I've had in my collection, not sure where it came from. I edited it in Adobe Elements, taking out the background and changing the colour. I added the words printed onto acetate. Attached with brads and added the small silver butterfly charm to finish it off.

Deco Pages

I received another Deco Book in the round robin, which I will be sending on it's journey tomorrow. Here is what I did:

Front of page , background stamped with a feather stamp from The Artistic Stamper.Bird made from polymer clay coloured with Perfect Pearls. The mold is by Sweetbrier Studio. Words printed onto acetate.

For the back I used an image by Zeb and adjusted the colours very slightly in Adobe Elements.

March Tip Ins

My March Travel Tip Ins went out on the last possible day, but they all flew across the pond. Problem is that you can't rely on the post always being like that lol.

I choose India as my destination.

The background for both front and back is a variation on Trish's

scraped background technique. After scraping the 3 acrylic paint colours with my plastic card, I dabbed all over with a baby wipe and gold acrylic paint. Gives it a nice shimmer, which you can't really see in the photos. I distressed an old map of India, and added the vintage images. The stamped images on the front are by Paper Artsy. I don't know who the stamp is from on the flip side. I printed the image o the Indian dancer onto Silk Paper and dabbed it with Opalite Gold Mist re-inker. I printed the quote onto offcuts of the background. I wasn't too happy with this project at first, but it has 'grown' on me.

Another month ....

and not much art done as yet. One whole week without getting inky or paint splattered! BUT I did get to meet up with Adrienne. We had a great time, chatting the hind legs of several donkies lol. I was running at the wire on a few swaps this month too, but I guess my darling GD is worth that.

Here she is concentrating on her drawing.